‘Extreme war propaganda’: Carlsen’s coach and Anand’s former trainer accuses FIDE of being used by Russia and Putin

Magnus Carlsen and controversies have been the latest theme in the world of chess, but this time his trainer, Peter Heine Nielsen, has raised serious allegations against the sport’s global body FIDE (International Chess Federation). Peter Heine Nielsen, a Danish chess Grandmaster who also trained Indian legend Viswanathan Anand, has accused FIDE of being used by Russia for propaganda amid its war with Ukraine.

In a sensational social media post, Nielsen, while replying to a post by FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky on how 2024 was a “great year” for chess, wrote that Russian players like Sergey Karjakin and Kremlin, the official seat of the government of Russia, is regularly using the global chess body for war propaganda.

“No, you literally dont care that FIDE is being used by the Kremlin Extreme war propaganda by Karjakin. Several thousand tournament in illegally occupied Ukraine Greetings and orders by Putin to “neutral” Russian athletes. Sponsors with ties to Russia. Its wrong", Nielsen wrote on X.

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No, you literally dont care that FIDE is being used by the Kremlin 🇷🇺

Extreme war propaganda by Karjakin.

Several thousand tournament in illegally occupied Ukraine 🇺🇦

Greetings and orders by Putin to "neutral" Russian 🇷🇺 athletes.

Sponsors with ties to Russia.

Its wrong. https://t.co/eSNEwQ9k66

— Peter Heine Nielsen (@PHChess) January 3, 2025

Besides Russia’s strong ties with chess, the country is also closely associated with FIDE. Current president Arkady Dvorkovich hails from Russia.

It’s also interesting to note that Nielsen’s attack on Sutovsky and FIDE came days after the chess administrator took on Carlsen for what was perceived as high-handed behaviour. Carlsen had recently criticised FIDE after he was disqualified from World Rapid Championship in New York in December for wearing jeans . He also took a shot at FIDE’s deputy president Anand, saying that the Indian wasn't fit for his role .

He didn’t stop there. Carlsen added that FIDE is threatening players in the Freestyle Chess Tour, warning them they would be excluded from the World Chess Championship cycle.

Sutovsky, who had earlier denied Freestyle Chess Tour accusations, slammed five-time world champion Carlsen for undermining FIDE and Anand in a lengthy post on X after the Norwegian shared the World Blitz title with Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi on 31 December after three games in sudden death ended in a draw.

This was the first time in history that a world chess championship title was shared. But a video of Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi talking about playing short draws in the tiebreaker during the final to achieve a draw created a storm as the world No.1 chess player was accused of match-fixing .

Sutovsky in his post on X questioned why chess streamers were not questioning Carlsen about the video, the shared Blitz title, and his criticism of Anand. The 47-year-old Israeli chess GM said that the silence from critics appears as a PR strategy.

It is funny how some platforms/streamers downplay the "we can just keep making draws" case.

Exactly as they downplayed Magnus' attacks on Vishy 3 days before. As it did not happen. Of course it is easier to fight me than Indian fans.

Of course now they will try to shift focus…

— Emilchess (@EmilSutovsky) January 2, 2025

“It is funny how some platforms/streamers downplay the ‘we can just keep making draws’ case. Exactly as they downplayed Magnus’ attacks on Vishy 3 days before. As it did not happen. Of course it is easier to fight me than Indian fans,” Sutovsky wrote on X.

“Of course now they will try to shift focus or pretend it was just a joke.

“Entire PR strategy is in play," he added.